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The Morning Call - April 22, 1996
SUN DAZE CONCERT DRAWS ELECTIC CROWD. SKIES CLEAR FOR THE HEADLINERS, MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES, WHO RESPOND WITH AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED HOURLONG SET. By Stephen Parrish, The Morning Call ''' '''April 22, 1996 Link They promised a lot, and the people who produced Sun Daze, the free, six-hour concert and carnival held yesterday on Lehigh University's Sayre Field in Bethlehem, nearly delivered it all. But then again, one can't control the sun. Despite the sudden clouds and cold front that halted the steady influx of patrons and caused the departure of many halfway through the day, an estimated 2,000 people converged on the concert site, according to Jeff Freundlich, co-chairman of concerts for University Productions, the Lehigh student-run committee responsible for the event. But serendipity prevailed as gray skies cleared and temperatures soared back into the 70s in time for the headliners, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, to put on a wildly entertaining hourlong set. Their high-energy ska and punk numbers, including "Someday I Suppose" and "Last Dead Mouse," delighted ecstatic crowd members, who made it apparent that the Boston octet was the day's main attraction. As is customary for Bosstones shows, front man Dicky Barret allowed body-surfers to rush the stage, and the highly accommodating Lehigh security team let them dance a couple of steps on stage before diving back into the crowd. As many as four or five fans took the stage at a time and plummeted head-first, oftentimes flipping in the air, before being safely caught and carried by the crowd below. The synergy felt both by crowd and crew was indicative of the day's proceedings: Like the Bosstones, three of the other four bands found their roots in punk, and three were multi-racial, yet there was never a threat of violence or trouble-making. Besides having to check for drugs or weapons, security never had to take action. "I'm impressed," said Freundlich. "The crowd's a very eclectic group -- from punks to preppies. Everyone's getting along." And the Bosstones brought along an activist group, the Columbus, Ohio-based Anti-Racist Action, whose literature and merchandise were moving nearly as well as each band's Helping promote positive energy were Cherry Poppin' Daddies, the Eugene, Oregon band that mixed up big band, swing and blues on a punk bedrock to entertain the masses. The straight-up ska stylings of the Connecticut-based Spring Heel Jack were dwarfed only by the Bosstones. Opening the show at 12:30 p.m. were Jigamoga, a band of Lehigh students who served up a cross-section of '70's-influenced soul and funk capped by a fine cover of James Brown's "Sex Machine." Vocalist Stephan Reeves, who added a reggae spin to his band's bag of tricks, pumped up the crowd of 500 or so who had assembled by 1 p.m. The remaining band, Boston's Little John, after brief technical difficulty, served up a taut set of garage punk from their upcoming release "Derailer," but was the first to fall victim to the threatening weather. The carnival attractions were as popular as the bands, as patrons catapulted onto a Velcro wall or revolved and rotated in a spinning gyroscope. Freundlich was hoping for about a thousand more concert-goers. "It's all working out fine, though," he said. "Two thousand is a perfect number in that the wait for food and rides is kept to 20 minutes. And, hey, who's not having a good time?"